


of the same star

by Fiction_Over_Fact



Series: Steadfast [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Pre-Slash, Uchiha Izuna Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 16:19:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15998879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiction_Over_Fact/pseuds/Fiction_Over_Fact
Summary: He had fought Tobirama for just as long, knew just as much about him and the way he moved and struck. When Tobirama disappeared—gone like the wraith people whispered he was—Izuna dodged.But not enough.He was just good enough to die slow instead of fast.In his head, he curses and grimly accepts his own death.Behind him, Senju Tobirama hits the ground.Hehowls.





	of the same star

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta-ed, title from:  
> “I feel like a part of my soul has loved you since the beginning of everything.  
> Maybe we’re from the same star.”  
> ― Emery Allen
> 
> More practice! Decided to try my hand at a soulmate AU since I'm quite fond of them, though I'm not too sure about how this turned out. I wanted to make it a little more emotive than I normally write, and I don't really think it worked out. Still, it's practice for a reason I guess?
> 
>  **Edit 9-18-18** : Fixed some grammatical errors though there are no doubt more.

Tobirama has a split second to feel _triumph—_ a long time enemy defeated, a threat against his family vanquished at last—before his heart, his soul, _the fabric of his being_ _screams_ in agony.

— _burns, that’s fucking deep that hurts that is not good at all fuck oh no Madara_ , _Madara is going to be **alone** who’s gonna keep that idiot alive if I’m not there-_

Uchiha Izuna hits the ground.

Tobirama's sword pierced through his chest, blood running from his side, staining the dirt and grass underneath him. He doesn't yell out at the pain, even as the impact jostles his wound, inches him closer to death.

He's a shinobi, he's too used to injury for that.

Instead, he breathes shallowly, grunts at how suddenly draining the mere effort of existing has become. The sword stuck him wrong, he knows, not the killing blow Tobirama would have tried for. Because Uchiha Izuna was _good_ and Senju Tobirama was _better_ but that certainly did not mean that Uchiha Izuna was _bad_. 

He had fought Tobirama for just as long, knew just as much about him and the way he moved and struck. When Tobirama disappeared—gone like the wraith people whispered he was—Izuna dodged.

But not enough.

He was just good enough to die slow instead of fast.

In his head, he curses and grimly accepts his own death, lets the soft darkness at the edges of his vision take him under.

Behind him, Tobirama hits the ground.

He _howls_.

All around the field, Uchiha and Senju freeze at the sound.

 

Everything _hurts._

It’s so much worse than a physical wound—Tobirama has been hurt in many ways before, but this is a pain that cannot be compartmentalized or ignored.

It comes all around him and within him, an aching hurt that seeps through him, more a disease than an injury. He’s fracturing, being pulled apart and broken like a dismantled puppet. There is a piece of him that he never knew about, something entwined with the very essence of himself, that is being _taken_ from him, going dark and rotten, leaving a _void_ where something like a heart, something like a _soul_ was supposed to be and taking pieces of him along with it.

Realization clicks for him then, with all the jarring suddenness of a lightning strike.

Tobirama clenches his jaw shut— _when had he opened his mouth? Was he the one who’d been yelling?_ —and swallows, the insides of his throat so dry and raw it almost sticks and gags him.

And then he shouts, with all the air he can suck into lungs crumpling within his chest.

“Hashirama!”

He screams it out of desperation more than desire, instinct instead of intention. He’s never called for Hashirama in battle before, has seldom called for him outside of it either. Because he's strong by himself, because he cannot show weakness, because Hashirama may love him but he knows quite well that he isn't his brother's true priority. And while he can deal with the _possibility_ that Hashirama will ignore him in favor of his attempts to sway Madara, if it was proven to be true…well, that would be more difficult.

But still, separate from reason and logic, determination and discipline—he is in _pain_. Pain deeper than blood, muscle and bone, pain that wraps around the center of him, around the soul of him. Pain that  _destroys_ rather than kills. 

And so, he screams.

 

Tobirama cannot see it, won't know till Touka tells him later at the compound, as they watch Hashirama wrestle a letter onto one of their messenger birds, but:

On the other side of the battle, so far away they hadn’t noticed the end of their brothers’ fight, the freezing of their own forces, Hashirama and Madara stop when they hear the scream. It's a noise the human throat shouldn't be capable of making, agony itself made aural and it's enough to make them turn from each other. To make the  _see_.

As one they go eerily still—each seeing their _last_ little brother collapsed on the ground, beside the only other person on the field capable of such a feat—and spring into action.

Madara charges forward, eyes locked first on the red spill underneath Izuna and then on the collapsed form his brother’s soon-to-be murderer. Concern washing through him, burning like a forest fire but it’s soon dominated by rage, the flaring heat of temper more familiar and easier to embrace than the stomach-turning hollowness of grief.

And maybe it is short-sighted or stupid (and he has been called both before) but Madara cannot _heal_ , he can only hurt.

If Izuna dies today it need not be alone.

He dashes around his shocked kin and their enemies and he’s nearly within striking distance of the Senju when the earth pulls back with a creaking _groan_. Tree roots as thick as his waist wrap around him from neck to knee, shackling his arms at his side and holding him tight to the ground with bruising force.

Madara curses, struggling in his bonds and hissing into the dirt, staring pleadingly at Izuna, almost within his reach but suddenly terrifyingly far away.

A lifetime away.

Hashirama lowers his hands once Madara is taken care of, face grim but steady. He rushes to Tobirama’s side, for once not even looking back at Madara.

Ideals they may have once shared and may share again, but peace is a dream for gentler days than this.

Some of the Uchiha ninja stir when he drops to his knees by Tobirama, ready to seize the opportunity to attack the Senju clan head but more roots push up from the ground, unbidden. They writhe and flex, forming a living and temperamental barrier between the three grounded ninja and the rest of both their clans.

“Tobi, Tobi, Tobi,” Hashirama mutters, hands blazing green as he runs them up and down his brother’s body, searching for whatever wound must hurt so terribly, terribly bad.

He doesn’t get much time to look before Tobirama pushes him away with trembling hands, like a leaf in a rainstorm. He does manage to grab at Hashirama’s arm though, fingers clenching weakly on the edge of one armor plate.

“Iz…a,” he pants out, voice strained.

His entire body freezes up for a second then, muscles tensing, a noise like a grunt and a growl catching in his clenched teeth. After a long moment he relaxes, limbs going limp and shaky once more.

The brief stillness in between the tension and the trembling turns Hashirama’s stomach.

“Brother, where are you wounded?” Hashirama damn near begs, trying to reach for Tobirama again, unwilling to just sit by his brother’s side and watch him die.

This time Tobirama catches one of his hands instead. He tugs on it—grip tremulously weak, the pull so faint Hashirama can barely feel it. Hashirama looks from his brother’s pained face to their linked hands and then up, wondering desperately what Tobirama thinks is more important than his own life.

He sees Izuna then, slumped on the ground, surrounded by his own blood.

And between the two of them Hashirama has never been the smart one, has never minded how much easier such matters came to his brother. They each have their skills and they share the benefits between themselves—jutsu, fighting styles, strategy. All have passed back and forth between them and they are long used to the way each other’s mind works.

And Hashirama, while he does not always agree with his brother, knows him better than he knows anyone else.

He drops Tobirama’s hand and dives for Izuna, staining his knees and fingers with an Uchiha’s blood.

For the first time to heal, rather than hurt.

And after today, Hashirama promises to himself and his brother, to Madara and the man whose heart beats softly under his hand.

After today he won't let it be the last.

**Author's Note:**

> *The relationship between Tobirama and Hashirama ended up more important than the _actual ship this fic is for_ somehow. Fuck. 
> 
> *Kudos and comments are more than appreciated, and feel free to tell me about any errors you spot! I'm not too sure how I feel about this fic overall, but I figured it was worth trying and I can always delete it if I grow to hate it too much. 
> 
> *For those curious about how soulmates in this verse work: you recognize your soulmate when (in relatively close proximity) they experience something traumatic/a near death experience. For this reason soulmate pairs are rare, though they're more common within ninja clans than in civilian society. Many clan alliances are caused by soulmates finding each other within another clan, a situation that makes peace almost a necessity.  
>   
> This is because if one of them dies in close enough proximity to their soulmate the bond kills the uninjured soulmate (called sympathetic death). This effectively puts ninja with soulmates in un-allied clans in a constant hostage situation. There's a history of one soulmate infiltrating enemy territory to kill themselves and thus their soulmate. There's also a history of clan members kidnapping their half of the pair, smuggling them close enough to the other half and murdering them. So it's...not a great situation to be in if you don't work toward an alliance.
> 
> +My tumblr (for writing and fandom stuff) is fiction-over-facts, so feel free to check that out or talk to me if you want?


End file.
